Broken Mirrors
by Eternally Insecure
Summary: When life falls apart, it's like a broken mirror. Shattered pieces fall everywhere and you're never sure if you ever really got them all up. They also never go back together the same, if at all, again. When Marina commits suicide, Laura's life begins to fall apart, she begins to lose those she once called friends. Real friends come together to help her try to pick up those pieces.
1. The Return of a Friend

I own nothing but my original characters Nicki and Milo.

Nicki (fc: Victoria Justice) is Laura's 24 year old childhood best friend. They've been through everything together. Both girls are very athletic, but have very different personalities. Whereas Laura is vert out-going, Nicki is a bit quieter. She is usually only talkative around her friends, which she considers to consist of: Laura, Kobe, Gustavo, and Milo. Nicki isn't a social butterfly like Laura, but she is kind to most until they have pushed her past her limit. Nicki does have a temper which can sometimes get the better of her. Usually Gustavo tends to be her anger's voice of reason and calms her down rather quickly.

Milo (fc: Gregg Lowe) is Kobe's 26 year old best friend. The boys grew up together, constantly in trouble with local police for hacking into the schools database, the malls security cameras, oh, and old police files (which they were never actually caught for or else both of them would be in jail right now, to be honest). Milo is a very sweet guy, but he has an issue with not thinking before he speaks. Milo is quite notable for putting his foot in his mouth and biting off more than he can chew. When he isn't causing a ruckus, Milo is actually a wonderful student. Straight A's and in the top 10 percentile with Kobe, Nicki, Laura, Gustavo, and Tyler.

* * *

She saw her friend's beaming smile and ran across the campus. Long, wavy chocolate locks flowing behind her. She was smiling, as well.

"LAURA!"

Five heads, in addition to the sun-bleached light brown head she was calling after, turned to see the voice.

"NICKI!" Laura shouted and ran past the five with her with arms wide open.

The girls met in a hug in the middle of a sidewalk.

"How have you been!? Ugh, I've missed you so much, Nic!" Laura smiled excitedly as Nicki let her out of their hug.

"I've been great! That semester abroad was amazing, though, Laura. You really should do it, if you can! And, you guys were right about Milo. He was actually quite helpful. Not to mention every time his mouth vomit happened he managed to either piss of Mitch McGuerrin or Oliver Jason and he would run screaming like a little girl, so there was also the entertainment he provided."

Laura playfully pushed her back, "So rude. Poor Milo."

"Hey, Beauts! It's great to have you back, now where is my love child?" a smiling face with wide, dark brown eyes bent to hug her.

"A buzz? Really, Kobe? And did you just say..." Nicki pointed to him, then turned to Laura with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Is it possible that Kobe got more weird?"

"Always, it never stops happening, toots!" an overweight guy with scraggly facial hair and a dopey grin wrapped his arms around her and lifter her into the air from behind.

"GUS GUS! CAN'T BREATHE, BRO!" Nicki let out with a winded cry.

Gustavo set her down.

"Howdy there, Big Guy? Missed ya bunches, where's the future Mrs Big Guy!?" Although, she truly didn't care where Isabel was.

The two never got along because she wasn't like Isabel. She wasn't extroverted, or eccentric. Nicki was who she was, and the people she really cared about knew her. It was honestly sad how short of a list it was, if she was fair about it.

1\. Laura, obviously, besties for life!

2\. Kobe, he was her nerd friend and he was always down for some mischief, he was always someone she was happy to be around.

3\. Gustavo, um, have you met him? He's the most amazing fluffball. Super sweet, always in a playful mood, and down to smash however many Big Mac's you'll let him.

4\. Milo, rather recent, in fact, Semester Abroad, recent. They never really got along before, but he was friends with Kobe, so he was always around. He had honestly become one of her closest friends after spending a semester getting to know him.

Four. Four fucking people.

That's fucking pathetic, she thought to herself. She kept a smile on her face, though. Never letting it slip that she was in a bad place.

Laura will figure it out, her inner thoughts piped up again. It was true. Laura always knew when something was up. But, there mom's were the same way. Childhood best friends and all.

"So, who is this?" she pointed at the tall, blond adonis behind Laura as she gave her a look. A look Laura knew very well.

We are so gonna fucking talk about this shit... why this shit again?

That look. Laura knew as soon as Nicki rolled her eyes.

Kobe beamed. She knew what he was thinking. She also assumed that this was the bar tending surfer-chef Tyler that Kobe angrily complained about in some of his emails and DM's.

She grinned as she looked at Kobe and shook her head. So jealous, Brobe, she thought to herself.

"Brobe, no one has answered my question! Who is this?" She knew Kobe would hate her later, but she did it anyway.

"This is Tyler. Tyler is a 6 foot surfer from the San Fernando Valley, Nicki," Kobe was doing his game show impression and everyone but Tyler was loving it. Laura was laughing so hard she had to lean on Kobe's shoulder," He is also a Bartender who enjoys cooking and long walks on the beach."

Gustavo was now holding up both Nicki and Laura as Kobe got a kick out of being a dick.

Tyler didn't seem to happy that Laura found it funny, either. Laura stopped laughing when she realized Tyler was getting upset and Nicki rolled her eyes.

"Hey, so where there any hot guys with you?" Cue Blonde Bimbo Barbie, or Olivia. She and Laura were great friends and Nicki still couldn't figure out why.

"Dude, she doesn't care about hot guys," Gustavo laughed.

Both Olivia and Isabel's eyes grew wide.

"You're into... girls?" Isabel seemed ashamed to even speak the sentence at all.

"No, dumb ass, I'm not. You're boyfriend was fucking with you, but wow, glad to know you're not only a narcissistic bitch, but you're also a homophobe."

Gustavo quickly stepped between the two girls and Laura grabbed Nicki's arm, pulling her along behind her as they hurried towards Nicki's dorm.

As they made it into the dorm and shut the door behind them, Laura fell over onto the futon and began laughing hysterically.

Nicki tossed her messenger bag on the bed and sat down next to her best friend.

"Are you done laughing so we can talk about Surfer-Chef the Bar Ken-der?"

"You did not just call him a Ken doll?" Laura rolled her eyes and groaned, "Can we not do this, Nic?" She stood up and rubbed her forehead.

"Laura, you do this to yourself all the time. I am tired of watching you intentionally break your own heart."

Laura stared at Nicki in disbelief that her friend would say that.

"Laur, I love you so much. You are my family without sharing blood. We literally know everything about each other. Then, out of the blue you stopped returning my messages and now I find out about this surfer guy who follows the same cycle you can't seem to break, babe. You always go for that pretty boy who seems so nice, they have killer bodies and beautiful eyes. Gorgeous guys are a disaster waiting to happen to you, Laura. You always end up hurt. Why can't you try being with someone who you can actually be you around? Someone who isn't a part of that cycle. Break it, babe. Break the cycle."

"Can I vent, now?" Laura said with a crack in her voice.

Nicki sensed her fear and pain, "What?"

"Marina Mills. She was going to school here. Um. She added me on Facebook, and I j- she had no friends, I just wanted to be nice, so, so I accepted her request. She, uh, she started acting really weird after a while so I quit hanging out with her and eventually I unfriended her. She drew a picture of me and videoed herself burning it and then hanging herself. This was all on her Facebook account, and somehow ended up on mine and now I am the worst person on campus."

Nicki had tears in her eyes. She didn't know.

"Laura, you should have talked to me! I would have done something. I could have helped."

Laura sat down next to Nicki and the two leaned there heads together.

"I'm sorry, Laur," Nicki told her friend.

"Me too. You're right. I should have kept in touch, I just... I got wrapped up in-"

"Social Media?" Nicki knew it was Laura's weakness. Facebook, and IG, and Snapchat, oh my!

"I'm sorry that I am a horrible friend. God, I am terrible! When did my life become this? This! Social media is everything I do that isn't school anymore," Laura confessed.

"Or the Bar Ken-der."

Laura laughed at Nicki's comment.

* * *

Please just read and review!


	2. Friends

I own nothing but my original characters Nicki and Milo.

Nicki (fc: Victoria Justice) is Laura's 24 year old childhood best friend. They've been through everything together. Both girls are very athletic, but have very different personalities. Whereas Laura is vert out-going, Nicki is a bit quieter. She is usually only talkative around her friends, which she considers to consist of: Laura, Kobe, Gustavo, and Milo. Nicki isn't a social butterfly like Laura, but she is kind to most until they have pushed her past her limit. Nicki does have a temper which can sometimes get the better of her. Usually Gustavo tends to be her anger's voice of reason and calms her down rather quickly.

Milo (fc: Gregg Lowe) is Kobe's 26 year old best friend. The boys grew up together, constantly in trouble with local police for hacking into the schools database, the malls security cameras, oh, and old police files (which they were never actually caught for or else both of them would be in jail right now, to be honest). Milo is a very sweet guy, but he has an issue with not thinking before he speaks. Milo is quite notable for putting his foot in his mouth and biting off more than he can chew. When he isn't causing a ruckus, Milo is actually a wonderful student. Straight A's and in the top 10 percentile with Kobe, Nicki, Laura, Gustavo, and Tyler.

* * *

Nicki was walking to one of her classes when she caught a blur of curly, dirty blond hair rush past her.

_Milo._

He would be the death of her if he kept just showing up like this. It was honestly super freaky sometimes, but in close quarters, aka their Semester Abroad, she was kind of calmed knowing that he was always there. Now, it was a little odd.

"Hey," Milo waved as he caught up to her.

"Hey, Milo. What's up? I didn't think I'd see you for a little while, if I'm being honest," Nicki told him with a gentle smile on her face.

Milo grinned, "Kobe was talking about Laura, _again_. Can they just fuck already?"

Nicki snorted a laugh, "Dude, I fucking wish! I'm totally team Brobe!"

Milo joined in on the laughter. It was almost as if they were still away.

_Maybe this friendship won't be as awkward as I thought, _Nicki thought to herself. She brushed away a few stray strands of hair that had fallen into her face.

"I just wish that they could see that everyone else around them, with the exception of Olivia, can see that she and Kobe care about each other. Hell, I've heard Isabel mention it to Gustavo on the rare occasion that she honestly thinks Laura likes Kobe but is too put off by the way he acts."

"I mean, you've met him. You grew up with him. You can see why a _normal _girl would be a little put off by _creepy _Kobe," she laughed at her own joke. _Creepy Kobe, pfft, it was hilarious..._

Milo rolled his eyes and chuckled at her. He liked her humor.

She could be light, she could be dark, or she could be a mix of the two. It all really depended on her mood.

Usually, though, she was light.

Nicki was a very reserved person around most, but Milo saw her react with Laura, Kobe, Gustavo, and those closest to her. She loved them, she would do anything for them. They weren't just her second family. They were a part of her family. And Milo had the opportunity recently to become one of those few cherished people in her life, and that made him proud.

Nicki was quite witty, however, if someone made her angry. She usually just made quips until they were angry enough to walk away from her or to fight her. She was down for whatever and everyone knew it.

Their walk together was short lived, as they arrived at her destination.

**Psych 201**

She, Laura, and Olivia shared this class. Laura made sure to sit in the middle. Just to be on the safe side.

"Hey, have you eaten yet today?" Milo inquired right before she had a chance to walk into the classroom.

"Nah, to be fair, it's my own damn fault. I just woke up an hour and a half ago," Nicki giggled.

She was high. Probably about as high as Kobe was, wherever he was.

"You wanna swing by China Town later... with me... and get something to eat? I-I know we gotta bust ass on that Chemistry project for Aimes," Milo reminded her of their shared project.

"Shit, I almost forgot about that! Uh, yeah, you know, that sounds great. Also, can you remind me why I need a Chemistry class again?" She bantered playfully with him.

"Cause it's required, Nic," Milo told her very seriously, but with a childish grin.

She loved that he bantered with her. Laura and Kobe were the first two people to ever do that. Then Gustavo once he transferred to their college a few years back.

"I'll see you after class, Milo," Nicki told him goodbye and descended into the classroom.

Milo turned, still grinning childishly, to see Kobe and Gustavo grinning behind him. Immediately, Milo lost his smile and rolled his eyes.

"See you after class, Milo," Gustavo spoke in a higher pitch while batting his eyes at Kobe.

Kobe responded with a dopey grin and nodded foolishly.

"Fuck the both of you, with a harpoon. A very, very dull, rusty, wide harpoon."

Kobe and Gustavo laughed as they turned to follow Milo towards their shared class, **Kill Theory**.

No, that was literally the name of their class. They dissected serial killers, rapists, and other what have you's that have entered the psychiatric system. It was the class where they found their attackers motives.

After this class, Kobe and Milo would be off to **Advanced Anatomy** with Laura and Nicki. All four jokingly referring to the fact that they attend **AA** together.

When Kobe and Milo arrived, Laura and Nicki were seated in the back, right side corner. Kobe understood why. Ever since that Marina chick killed herself, everyone has been down Laura's throat. It wasn't like she knew the bitch was a psycho.

"Hey, Losers!" Nicki greeted as Milo took the seat on her left and Kobe took the seat to Laura's left.

_Typical, _she thought. And it was so typical of Kobe to sit next to Laura, what with his massive crush on her that she is somehow able to pretend doesn't exist. It really aggravates Nicki sometimes. Not only because Kobe is a genuinely sweet guy, he's super loyal too, extremely smart, and, yes he may be a little freaky sometimes, but Kobe honestly was the one person that if Nicki needed to dispose of a dead body she knew would be there with no questions asked. Laura too. That's why she loved them. But it just didn't make sense that Laura could ignore the guy who has been there for her for four years.

Milo reached to put his phone in his pocket and accidentally grazed the side of Nicki's thigh, "Shit, sorry, I didn't mean to do that," Nicki just looked at the flustered man next to her with a tight lipped smile, "I mean, I did mean to put my phone in my pocket, I just didn't mean to hit your leg. It's not like I was trying to-"

Kobe smacked Milo lightly in the face with his notebook, "We fucking get it, Spaz. You didn't mean it. Shut up, shit, dude!"

Despite both boys efforts in whispering to prevent any attention being drawn their way, Laura and Nicki began laughing loudly and it filled the room quickly. Everyone stared for just a few moments and went back about their own business.

Soon enough, their laughter stopped and the professor walked in.

Laura and Kobe quietly took notes, as did Nicki and Milo, only Nicki and Milo were also conversing quietly about their previous conversation by using the notebook in between them to make it look as it was a conjoined notebook.

~was it just me or was he leaning a little close to Laura when he thumped you?  
-yeah I thought so too, pretty sure he's been doing it this whole class

Sure enough, when Nicki looked over momentarily, she saw Kobe and Laura sitting closely, with their heads, arms, and shoulders near touching.

~they just need to FUCK ALREADY!  
-no fucking doubt man

Milo and Nicki went back to taking notes, both of them every so often glancing up at Kobe and Laura to see if they were still sitting closely. They were. Every single fucking time.

Their professor began speaking about a future assignment, signaling the nearing end of the class.

All four of the twenty somethings deciding they wanted to go get food, which was great as Milo and Nicki had already planned to go get Chinese before going to work on their chem project.

"Dude, no! I still think I could do it."

Kobe laughed as he bantered with his friend.

"Kobe, you cannot, and you will not," Laura added as she punched Kobe playfully in the arm.

His laugh bouncing off the walls in the chinese restaurant they were at.

"Death wish, much?" Nicki added as she took a bite out of an egg roll.

"Listen, I think it is a great idea, and I think I could do it!" Kobe told them viciously, while laughing.

"I don't want you mimicking the scene from Death Proof. No, not happening," Laura told him with a hint of seriousness lingering in her voice.

Kobe picks up on it, "Fine, I won't do it."


	3. Learning Friends

I own nothing but my original characters Nicki and Milo.

Nicki (fc: Victoria Justice) is Laura's 24 year old childhood best friend. They've been through everything together. Both girls are very athletic, but have very different personalities. Whereas Laura is vert out-going, Nicki is a bit quieter. She is usually only talkative around her friends, which she considers to consist of: Laura, Kobe, Gustavo, and Milo. Nicki isn't a social butterfly like Laura, but she is kind to most until they have pushed her past her limit. Nicki does have a temper which can sometimes get the better of her. Usually Gustavo tends to be her anger's voice of reason and calms her down rather quickly.

Milo (fc: Gregg Lowe) is Kobe's 26 year old best friend. The boys grew up together, constantly in trouble with local police for hacking into the schools database, the malls security cameras, oh, and old police files (which they were never actually caught for or else both of them would be in jail right now, to be honest). Milo is a very sweet guy, but he has an issue with not thinking before he speaks. Milo is quite notable for putting his foot in his mouth and biting off more than he can chew. When he isn't causing a ruckus, Milo is actually a wonderful student. Straight A's and in the top 10 percentile with Kobe, Nicki, Laura, Gustavo, and Tyler.

* * *

Tears were flooding her eyes at the news.

_Gustavo _had died. He was _gone_.

And _now_ Isabel was _blaming_ Laura. That wasn't fair. _Laura_ wasn't the one who was posting those _horrible things_. That wasn't like her. She wouldn't do that to someone she loved. And everyone knew Laura loved her friends.

At the moment, Laura was crying in a ball on Nicki's bed.

Even Olivia was becoming icy towards her.

And Tyler wouldn't let her touch her Facebook account, anymore. Which, to be quite fair, was probably a good thing because there was nothing she could do about it, but it was her decision on whether or not she looked at her account. _Her _friend just _died_.

A touch to her shoulder startled her.

Milo.

A soft, sad smile played on his lips. His icy blue eyes had bags underneath them. He had only been talking to the police for a couple of hours, but it had definitely taken it's toll on him.

Kobe walked over to sit in the recliner next to Laura. He was every bit as ate up over Gustavo's death as everyone else. Maybe more. He and Gustavo were like brothers, like he and Milo.

Laura only sniffled now, but she kept her face covered.

"Laur, come on. This isn't your fault. I don't give a shit what Isabel says."

Milo had sat down next to Nicki on the futon that was turned from it's normal position of facing the t.v. to facing the bed.

"It's more on me and Kobe than anyone else. Had we been at the dorms, we would have known something was wrong," Milo offered sadly. He did _truly_ blame himself for Gustavo's death.

"As much as I don't want to say it, Milo is right. We were supposed to game with Gustavo after we got back from getting chinese with you guys, but we stayed out later than expected," Kobe's hands were clasped in his lap with his head hanging low.

Laura had finally sat up but was still and silent. She had leaned her head onto Kobe's shoulder.

"Guys, this isn't_ your_ faults. This isn't anyone's_ fault_ but the asshole who did it. I mean, _come on_! _We all know_ this wasn't suicide. How the fuck else did someone get a _video_ posted to Laura's Facebook account?" Nicki was angry, but she felt a sting of hurt when she saw Laura flinch from the corner of her eye.

Laura's face was pretty well hidden. She didn't want to look at_ anyone._ She _felt_ like a _disease_.

"Why Laura's Facebook? Of all the people we know, that _knew _Gustavo, why would someone post this to Laura's account? I don't understand how or why anyone would do that..." Milo told them. He was curious of the situation. It really made no sense.

"What about Marina? I mean, this all happened after she killed herself and did it on video, no less."

Everyone turned to face Nicki at the thought her idea.

"How the hell would she have been able to do that?" Laura asked. This was all beginning to make her head spin.

"Kobe did say something about black mirrors. It's worth a shot. We can try to find out a little more about Marina, but in the mean time, Laura, please don't touch your social media," Milo spoke with slight tremors.

"I agree with Milo, but someone needs to keep an eye on Marina's Facebook account," Nicki told them.

"Why?" Kobe inquired.

"Gustavo was on her friends list. He wasn't before that night. We kept an eye on it just to be sure, but he never reappeared afterwards, either. Nicki noticed it first, and said something to me when we walked out of the chinese restaurant. So, I got curious and checked it myself, he was there. But, the next morning, he wasn't," Milo's spiel left an eerie atmosphere in the room that left them all with chills.

"I'll do it. I want to see if I can find anything else out via her Facebook anyway. The source code, it isn't source code. It's heavily encrypted in no way, shape, or form I have seen before. Laura's page has it now, too."

Milo nodded at Kobe. They would go over the code together later. For now, Milo would help Nicki look into Marina's past.

"We'll see what we can find out."

"Until then, Laur, I want you to stay here. I don't want Isabel or Olivia making you anymore stressed than you already are," Nicki leaned down to hug her friend before she walked out the door.

The duo walked down the corridors towards Marina's room. It was dark.

"How are we getting in?" Nicki sometimes tended to forget the shared criminal past between Kobe and Milo.

He only chuckled quietly as he attached a card reader to his phone and swiped a blank card.

Nicki shook her head with a grin on her face as she looked around to be sure no one was watching them.

The two walked into the room, careful not to disrupt the caution tape crossed on the door frame.

"What should we be looking for, anyway, Milo?" Nicki's typically pin straight hair was curled into loose curls today, and it flew anytime she turned quickly.

"Anything that looks out of the ordinary?" He shrugged, unsure himself of what to look for in Marina Mills' room.

"Well, Miss Mills was quite the artist."

Milo walked up behind Nicki and looked at the sketches in her hands.

"Fuckin' creepy, dude," Milo shook his head as he felt a chill run down his spine.

Nicki chuckled and began to play with the zipper on her burgundy hoodie.

"Dude, I seriously don't think we are going to find anything. We have her laptop, now, and her freaky sketches. Maybe they can help."

Milo nodded, but then decided to check under her mattress.

"I don't want to know what's hiding under yours, dude," Nicki whispered as Milo picked up a school photo.

"I can try to find it."

Nicki nodded, "Let's get the fuck out of this shit hole, dude."

"This is the neatest shit hole I have ever seen," Milo laughed quietly.

"Fuck off, Milo," Nicki flipped him off and walked out the door.

Both happy to remain unseen through the whole ordeal.

While sitting at a diner, Milo typed quickly on his laptop's keyboard.

Nicki sipped on a coffee as he scarfed down his plate of food. She adjusted her black 3/4 sleeve tee, as the words printed across the front were crooked 'I May Be A Mess, But I'm A Hot Mess'. She took in how Milo was dressed on the mildly cold and windy fall day.

His wild and thick curls stood on top of his head, like usual. Milo was wearing a dark navy henley with a black, blue, and grey flannel over top. His dark jeans and his grey vans blended so well.

A smile formed on Nicki's lips as she realized that Milo and Kobe shared the wild eyes when they were hacking a computed. It was something that they were good at, though, and she would never tell them not to do something that they loved and were good at.

Milo took this moment to look up, "What? Is there food on my face?"

Nicki laughed at his immediate word vomit.

"No, just noticed how much alike you and Kobe really are. It's weird. I never noticed it before."

Milo smiled, "We're very similar, yeah, but we're also very different. Which, I honestly believe, is why we are such good friends. He likes to do stupid shit, and I talk him out of it. Or he talks me into helping him somehow, and usually I don't know how he does it."

"Sounds like me and Laura. Except it's always some stupid thing she finds on Facebook and she wants to post a video doing the same thing or something just above that level," Nicki laughed.

"Oh!"

Nicki's head turned quickly back to Milo.

"It's an orphanage."

Nicki's blood almost ran cold, "You didn't just say an or-"

"Yeah," Milo met Nicki's eyes and stopped for a moment, "Marina grew up in an orphanage."

"We need to find out why these boys faces are scratched out. Obviously, she didn't like them."

Milo nodded at Nicki as she leaned across the booth to point at the faces of two boys in the photo.

They decided now was the time to talk to Kobe and Laura. Just then, Kobe was calling Milo.

"Yeah, what's up, man?" As he and Nicki began to get into his car, Milo stopped only to shout at Kobe, "What are you talking about, man? We asked you to keep an eye on her, not take her to Marina's mothers home that was burnt to a crisp 20 years ago!"

Nicki's heart began to race as her messenger bag fell over, dumping Marina's drawings on the floor. She sifted through them and gasped.

"Kobe doesn't sound right. He doesn't sound like himself. We need to get to them. I think he thinks he's next."

Nicki got on Laura's and Marina's Facebook accounts to find distorted photos and videos of Kobe and Tyler both.

"Shit! I don't know who it is!" Nicki freaked out, "Milo, are there any factories nearby Marina's mom's house? Marina seems obsessed with this building!" Nicki pointed to the 2 photos and the distorted gif of the same factory that was drawn on the photo in her hand.

"Here, type what I tell you," Milo put his laptop in her hands and began spewing keywords to search for and places to search for them.

"Shit!" Nicki shouted as Milo swerved down the long dirt road they had just turned onto.

"Call Kobe!" Milo shouted into the bluetooth system in his car.

_Calling Kobe..._

"Fucking call faster!" Milo shouted as he sped quickly, "Come on, mother fucking answer me, Kobe!"


	4. Broken Glass

I own nothing but my original characters Nicki and Milo.

Nicki (fc: Victoria Justice) is Laura's 24 year old childhood best friend. They've been through everything together. Both girls are very athletic, but have very different personalities. Whereas Laura is vert out-going, Nicki is a bit quieter. She is usually only talkative around her friends, which she considers to consist of: Laura, Kobe, Gustavo, and Milo. Nicki isn't a social butterfly like Laura, but she is kind to most until they have pushed her past her limit. Nicki does have a temper which can sometimes get the better of her. Usually Gustavo tends to be her anger's voice of reason and calms her down rather quickly.

Milo (fc: Gregg Lowe) is Kobe's 26 year old best friend. The boys grew up together, constantly in trouble with local police for hacking into the schools database, the malls security cameras, oh, and old police files (which they were never actually caught for or else both of them would be in jail right now, to be honest). Milo is a very sweet guy, but he has an issue with not thinking before he speaks. Milo is quite notable for putting his foot in his mouth and biting off more than he can chew. When he isn't causing a ruckus, Milo is actually a wonderful student. Straight A's and in the top 10 percentile with Kobe, Nicki, Laura, Gustavo, and Tyler.

Just to let everyone know, the nickname for Kobe that I use frequently in this chapter is Kobs (pronounced co-bs not cobs lol the 'o' has a long sound)

* * *

Dirt flew behind them as Milo sped down the old gravel road. His SUV was swerving badly due to the loose gravel.

"God damn it, fucking answer your phone, Kobe!"

"Milo, stop screaming!" Nicki shouted, catching him off guard.

Milo took a deep breath and steadied his driving.

"We need to get ahold of him. We need to be there! Wherever the _fuck there _may be!" Milo was hurting. This was his best friend and he could hear it in his voice that something was wrong.

Nicki began frantically calling Laura.

"Thank fucking God! Are you with Brobe still?" Nicki asked into the phone, "No, tell him I said that if he doesn't get the fuck out of there no one will have to worry about the occult and black fucking mirrors because I am going to Norman Bate's his ass and seal him up in a mother fucking wall!" Nicki screeched into the speaker.

"_I_ need to stop screaming?" Milo asked as he stared at her timidly.

A sad smile formed on her lips, "Shut up."

Soon, they saw Tyler getting out of his Jeep next to Kobe's Blazer.

"You stay here!" Milo shouted as they ran towards the signs that read 'No Trespassing' and the heavily eerie woods.

The duo trudged through and ran straight to the decrepit house. They saw Kobe's phone on the ground and Milo picked it up, noticing what looked like Kobe's face freeze framed on the black screen.

"It's Kobe..." Milo muttered as he stared fearfully towards Nicki.

They began sprinting until they saw the opened storm cellar door. Milo climbed down first and helped lead Nicki down the steep steps.

"Kobs! Where you be, brother bear!?" Milo shouted as they walked slowly down the corridor.

"Milo!" Laura shouted and she ran right into Milo's chest, "Something's wrong with Kobe!" She pointed to a very ill-looking Kobe.

"Listen to me, Kobs, you and me both know you'll regret this later. We think this was the wrong place. But it isn't far from the right place. There is a factory, a quarter mile up the road, dude. She sketched it, and it's in gifs on her Facebook. Kobe, we can still stop her," Milo tried to reason with his life long friend.

Kobe just stared at him, his eyes sunken in from the lack of sleep he'd had. He was paler than normal, too.

"Kobe, come on. We can stop this. No one else has to get hurt or die."

Milo turned his head ever so slightly to see Nicki standing right behind him with her hand on his shoulder.

Laura had managed to walk behind Nicki and Milo in the process of them talking Kobe down.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, guys," Kobe fell to his knees and began sobbing, "I hear it. It's in my head."

"The black wasps?" Laura asked.

Kobe only nodded.

"Let's end this shit, right now!" Nicki told them all and they began to run out of the destroyed old home.

Soon, there were two men in suits without faces following them.

"You first," Milo whispered to Kobe as he shoved him through the cellar door.

The group of four made their way to the cars only to find Tyler and his Jeep gone.

"Just keep going. We gotta go!" Milo shouted as they all piled into his SUV.

Upon reaching the factory, they found Tyler's jeep, but no Tyler.

"The fuck!?" Nicki turned to Milo. He was concerned, she could tell.

"Like you said, just keep going!" Nicki repeated to him as she pulled Laura and pushed Kobe.

They made their way inside only to see Tyler sitting in a chair with his head hanging down.

"Tyler?" Laura whispered.

No response.

"Tyler!" she shouted this time with tears in her eyes.

Still no response.

As Milo went to take a step, a voice stopped him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a dark chuckle escaped, as well.

Nicki, who had been looking around, stopped dead in her tracks at the icy tone. She turned to face where Tyler was sitting.

Tyler was now standing with a sadistic smile on his face. His arms were outstretched as if welcoming someone.

"Laura, had you just done what I asked, this would have all been fine. It would have been over with so quickly and no one would have had to suffer."

"You've got to be shitting me!?" Nicki shouted as Tyler laughed sarcastically.

"Oh, what? Are you upset because per usual no one listened to the little Kobe who cried wolf?" Tyler mocked them. He mocked Kobe.

"Fuck you, you fucking prick! You're a worthless, piece of shit, just like that Marina girl! You can fuck off and rot in hell!" Nicki yelled. She was angry. Fighting angry. And her three friends knew it.

"Sweetheart, I've caused hell for centuries. Hell would welcome me with open arms," Tyler grinned.

"You were the one who taught Marina about magic and who she was. The boys she killed, they made fun of her, bullied her even. You taught her how to protect herself," Milo offered an explanation.

"You're damn right, I did! Those little shits deserved what the got. To treat someone of such power with such disrespect!" Tyler spat at the ground.

Laura's breathing had just evened out. She was replaying every memory in her head.

"That's why you told me to stay away from social media. Because if I didn't know who was next, I couldn't intervene."

Tyler smiled, "Atta girl! You're smarter than you look!"

This caused Kobe to flinch. He always hated when someone talked bad to one of his friends. Especially one of the girls. _Especially Laura_.

Tyler had just told Laura she looked stupid.

"Game on, asshole!" Nicki told him as she darted down a corridor.

"Does she not realize that she can't fight the undead?" Tyler mocked as the two men in suits showed up in a swarm of black wasps and followed Nicki down the hall.

All Nicki could hear behind her was her shoes pounding the pavement. She was ready to fight. No matter what she had to do. Nicki was going to get her friends out of there safely.

"You must not know Nicki all that well, my dude," Kobe mocked back, "She's a real scraper."

"You just started a war that you can't end, Tyler," Milo interjected.

"How's that?" Tyler asked slyly.

"You just sent the help to track down one of four. There's only one of you and three of us," Milo finished.

Tyler soon realized he had made an error when Milo charged at him. Tyler jumped out of the way, only to be hit in the head with Marina's laptop by Kobe.

"Let's find that goddamn mirror before Nicki gets herself killed," Milo said as he bolted off in a random direction.

Laura and Kobe ran together and followed him.

"Anything?" Kobe shouted to Laura.

"No, you guys?" She shouted back.

"I found something."

The three turned to see Tyler and his two men in suits. Tyler had Nicki in his arms and she was out cold.

"Let her go," Milo told him.

"Why?" Tyler mocked.

"Fucking let her go, Tyler!" Laura shouted as she stepped forward, only to be pulled back by both Kobe and Milo.

"Only if you willingly hand over Kobe. I'll let Nicki live, hell, I'll even let Milo here live. But Kobe's on my list."

Laura choked on her breath. She couldn't trade one friend for another.

"Do it. You won't," Milo antagonized, "You won't because you know if you kill her then Laura is gone. Gone as in you will never find her again. Not only that, Tyler, I just don't think you have to balls."

Kobe and Laura both looked angrily towards Milo.

"Have it your way then," Tyler began to stalk towards Nicki. As soon as he grabbed her, though, she caught him off guard and stabbed him with a rusted knife she hid in her pocket.

The two men in suits dropped her, causing her to drop something else.

"NO!" Tyler shouted as he tried to catch it.

"That's not the only one. I just happened to _accidentally _break all of the others. I'm kinda like a really skinny bull in a china shop. Mom always warned me I was accident prone," Nicki had a twisted grin on her face as Tyler's face distorted.

The two men in suits disappeared.

Buzzing black wasps dissipated, all that was left was Tyler.

Now that the mirror was broken, all of them, he was weak.

"Like I said, rot in hell," Nicki reiterated as something drug Tyler off into the dark.

"S'get the fuck outta here," Milo told them as he and the others began walking out of the factory.

"Damn, it's almost daylight," Kobe spoke quietly as he looked up to the sky.

"Skipping class today, my dude?" Milo asked as they all leaned against his SUV in different places.

"Damn straight, I need some fucking sleep."

Laura and Nicki both laughed as they all piled into Milo's SUV.

They drove down to Kobe's Blazer, where he and Laura got in and followed Milo and Nicki to the campus.

"What do we say if people ask questions about Tyler?" Laura asked curiously.

They all shared the same look. They were unsure.

"I don't know. Say with everything going on, he just didn't act right. All of a sudden he was gone. Just blow up his phone today and look like a concerned girlfriend," Nicki told her as she hugged her.

As they walked towards the dorms, they heard news of Olivia's death and Laura had to fight to not cry until she reached Nicki's dorm.


	5. Good Friends

I own nothing but my original characters Nicki and Milo.

Nicki (fc: Victoria Justice) is Laura's 24 year old childhood best friend. They've been through everything together. Both girls are very athletic, but have very different personalities. Whereas Laura is vert out-going, Nicki is a bit quieter. She is usually only talkative around her friends, which she considers to consist of: Laura, Kobe, Gustavo, and Milo. Nicki isn't a social butterfly like Laura, but she is kind to most until they have pushed her past her limit. Nicki does have a temper which can sometimes get the better of her. Usually Gustavo tends to be her anger's voice of reason and calms her down rather quickly.

Milo (fc: Gregg Lowe) is Kobe's 26 year old best friend. The boys grew up together, constantly in trouble with local police for hacking into the schools database, the malls security cameras, oh, and old police files (which they were never actually caught for or else both of them would be in jail right now, to be honest). Milo is a very sweet guy, but he has an issue with not thinking before he speaks. Milo is quite notable for putting his foot in his mouth and biting off more than he can chew. When he isn't causing a ruckus, Milo is actually a wonderful student. Straight A's and in the top 10 percentile with Kobe, Nicki, Laura, Gustavo, and Tyler.

I got really sad, so I typed up like, maybe half of this chapter and my internet disconnected and it didn't save. I had to restart it from the beginning, sorry it took so long!

* * *

It had been two weeks since the deaths of Olivia, Gustavo, Isabel, and the disappearance of Tyler. The whole campus was abuzz with gossip of his suspicious disappearance with the timing of the deaths, and all.

The people who had once been against Laura, were now back on her side, being as everyone was starting to believe Tyler had something to do with the strange happenings. Things were relatively normal on campus, aside from the large amounts of gossip.

Kobe, Milo, Laura, and Nicki all hung out together, like before. But something was different. _They _were different.

The day of Olivia's funeral proved that to them all.

At the front of the church stood Olivia's mother and father, Gwendolyn and Jack Mathison, her younger brother, Elliot, and Elliot's twin sister Alison. The priest was not too far behind them, shaking the hands of attendees.

From the corner of her eye, Nicki saw Olivia's mother walk out quickly and heard her sobbing. She decided to follow her.

Once outside, Nicki found Mrs. Mathison by the angel fountain to the back end on the left side of the church, "Mrs. Mathison?"

Olivia's mother turned to face Nicki, "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met before," more sniffles.

"I'm Nicki. Nicki Sinclair. I knew your daughter, we actually shared a mutual friend, Laura Woodson."

Mrs. Mathison's eyes seemed to brighten a bit, "Oh, Laura! She's such a sweetheart, that girl. You know, Olivia swore they were like sisters, some days."

That made Nicki smile. She was glad to know that Olivia hadn't shared the disdain of Laura's social media with her mother.

"I'm sorry, you said, Nicki Sinclair, didn't you?"

Nicki felt stiff. She and Olivia hadn't ever really gotten along, so she was unsure what Olivia had told her.

Olivia's mother never lost her sad smile, "She talked about you. Said you reminded her of herself. Loud, rowdy, hard to get along with. But a good friend, and a good laugh."

Tears began to form in Nicki's eyes. She always thought Olivia hated her.

"She said you were stubborn, but you meant well. Sounds a lot like my Olivia to me," her smile a bit more wide than before.

"Thank you. And I know, I know that I don't understand what it's like to lose a child, but I've lost a lot of people close to me. My parents died in a car wreck when I was 19, and my younger sister who was in the car was flung through the windshield - she hit a tree. The paramedics told me she was dead on impact, but um, I knew a few of the nurses and they told me that she suffered, for like 2 hours. No one called me, I didn't even know until a week later. So, I honestly understand the trauma of not knowing. I just wanted to let you know that. And I wanted to let you know that, even though Olivia and I didn't get along the greatest, I still believe she was a great friend to Laura when she needed it. I neglected our friendship for a long time, so I am thankful that Olivia stepped up and stood by Laura when I wasn't there. Even when I could have been."

Mrs. Mathison pulled Nicki into a tight hug, both had tears falling down their faces.

"Gwen? Gwen, honey? It's time- oh, I'm sorry," Jack Mathison, Olivia's father. Tech savvy business entrepreneur, that's why he was rich.

"It's alright, dear. It was nice meeting you, Nicki."

"You too, Mrs. Mathison," Nicki waved a small gesture and Milo turned around the corner just as the Mathison's went inside.

Milo walked over beside Nicki at the fountain and noticed the tears," Hey, you okay?" He gently placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him.

Nicki swallowed the lump in her throat before she spoke, "Yeah, I just found out that Olivia never hated me, and I was always a bitch to her for nothing. I kind of feel like an ass. Majorly, actually."

"Come here," Milo pulled her into a hug, "Sometimes people only show us the side of them they want us to see, Nicki. Or maybe Olivia just had a hard time showing that she didn't completely hate you."

A quiet laugh escaped Nicki's lips as she hugged Milo back.

"Let's get inside so Laura and Kobe don't feel all alone," Milo pulled her slowly back inside to the middle pew were Kobe and Laura were seated.

By the end of the funeral, the four felt drained. They had lost so many friends, it was unfair, it felt like some nightmare they couldn't wake up from.

Another two weeks passed and it was as if things were starting to get back to normal. Laura and Nicki had made plans with the guys to get food after their last class of the day.

The group made their way to their favorite chinese restaurant in town and sat at their usual circular table by the window in the same order they always sat. Kobe sat in the back corner by the window wall, Laura sat to his right with her back facing the main part of the restaurant, Nicki was next to her with her back to the door, and Milo was between Nicki and Kobe, with his back facing the window wall, as well.

"So, I still think-"

"Kobe, we've had this discussion at least a dozen times, no you are not going to attempt the car scene from Death Proof," Laura laughed as Milo swatted Kobe in the back of the head.

Nicki jumped out of the way when the server brought their food out to them, "Yum!"

"Ever the foodie, Nicki," Milo laughed.

"Always, my dude," as she opened up her food she saw Kobe and Laura staring at each other, so she gently kicked Milo's leg and nudged in their direction.

He shook his head but continued on eating his food.

After their hour long chinese food stop, they decided it was time to head back to campus so Milo and Nicki could work on their chemistry project.

"That's cool, me and Kobe have to work on a research assignment about the Great Wall, so I guess that's actually perfect," Laura added as they all began walking outside.

Milo saw Kobe grab Laura's hand lightly before walking to the driver's side of his Jeep.

"Can you two just admit you're dating already!?" Milo shouted as he groaned and he slid into his SUV.

Nicki held a tight lipped grin as she followed his lead.

Laura and Kobe just stared after them. Laura was dumbfounded, Kobe just grinned.

"Well, we were gonna have to tell them sooner or later."

Laura shook her head with a grin as she climbed into Kobe's Jeep.

Back at the campus, Milo and Nicki were laughing hysterically as the clambered out of his SUV.

"Did you have to shout it, though?" Nicki was almost falling over as she held her side.

Milo stopped for a split second and let his head roll back, "Yes, because they're so _obvious_! If it wasn't for that I wouldn't have opened my mouth."

"I find that hard to believe considering the abnormal amount of word vomit you produce on the daily, dude," Nicki chuckled as he opened his dorm door.

The laughing slowly came to a halt as Milo and Nicki both took a seat on his sofa and pulled out their books and Chemistry Research assignment.

"Okay, so we've already covered covalent, polar, and ionic bonds," Milo started.

Nicki looked at her scribbled on notebook page, "Did you cover intramolecular, and intermolecular forces?"

"Yeah, dude, Chem is the most boring subject to me, I hate covering things I have gone over since the eighth grade."

Nicki laughed again, "You hate anything homework related, Milo."

"Not untrue," he added with a grin.

Four hours passed by when Nicki finally checked the time, "Shit, dude, it's 9," she told Milo while stretching.

"Fuck, I didn't realize it had been that long that we had been working on this," Milo stared at his phone.

Nicki stood up, "I feel numb, right now."

Milo laughed, "Alright, well, I guess I will walk you to your and Laura's apartment. It's late and it's a Friday."

"Alcoholics everywhere!"

Both laughed loudly as the began the walk to the apartment that Nicki and Laura now shared. It was nice outside, not cold, but a perfect breeze was blowing.

Once they reached the complex, Nicki and Milo made their way to the elevator, "Nah, dude, I'm taking the stairs. I don't like elevators anymore," Nicki told him with pain in her eyes.

Milo knew that Nicki looked at Gustavo like a brother, so to have that memory of him, Milo knew it had to hurt.

At the door, Nicki opened it and realized Laura still wasn't home, "Guess she's still with Brobe."

"You gonna be okay by yourself?" Milo was concerned. He hadn't ever seen Nicki look so defeated.

"It just sucks. The things I thought I knew, I was wrong about, and then I make myself realize that I was a horrible friend for a long time. You know, I should have been here for Laura, I should have known that something was wrong. As her best friend, that's my job, Milo, and I fai-"

Milo cut Nicki off mid rant, by kissing her. He stopped when she tensed up.

"I, sorry, I just... I-"

With a grin on her face, Nicki pulled him back to her by the collar of his flannel shirt, "What the hell took you so long?"

Milo felt all the weight lift right off of his shoulders as Nicki wrapped her arms around his neck and his coiled around her waist.

When they broke apart, Nicki was the first to speak, "You should probably go get some sleep."

"Yeah, that's probably not gonna happen," Milo told her in a breathy laugh.

"Try?"

"Yeah."

"Goodnight, Milo."

"Goodnight, Nicki," he told her as she closed the door behind her.

Walking away from her door, Milo couldn't help but smile. Nicki was the first person aside from Kobe to truly accept him and not look at him as a freak. He really respected that. He really liked her. And, he was pretty sure she felt the same way about him.

Nicki got a shower and changed, then sat on the couch waiting for Laura. She finally made it in about an hour and a half after Nicki had.

"Dude, even if you were fucking, a message to let me know you're not dead would be nice."

Laura stopped in front of the living room with a dopey smile on her face. She walked around and sat on the couch next to Nicki.

"Don't say it, Nicki. Please for the love of God, don't..." Laura's grin never faded.

"Told you to give him a chance a long ass time ago, dude," Nicki laughed as Laura chased her.

The were best friends, they had always been best friends. And nothing was going to ruin that.


End file.
